Broadcasting stations used for broadcasting pay-per-view television channels via satellites or via microwave transmission networks typically transmit multiple programs on multiple channels. Generally, such broadcasting stations are managed from a central control facility that receives a number of programs from a number of different sources. For example, one of the number of programs received at the central control facility of a broadcasting station may be a live feed from a sports event, a live feed from a scene of a crime, etc. Subsequently the personnel at the central control facility are responsible for selecting which of such programs to receive and to repackage for re-transmittal.
Typically, within the central control facility of a broadcasting station, each of the multiple sources can be received on one of a number of program receivers by tuning a program receiver to a given frequency. For proper reception of an incoming program, various other parameters of such program receivers, such as the noise level adjustment, bandwidth, gain parameters, etc., may need to be changed as well.
The program receivers are generally stacked in racks so that a large number of program receivers can be stored in an equipment area. The program receivers may be controlled by directly-cabled means such as RS-232, RS-422 or Ethernet. Alternatively, when program receivers do not have serial, networked or other addressable control capabilities, they may be controlled by consumer grade equipment, such as, infrared remote controllers. Even though these program receivers can be controlled manually or via one or more controllers connected to them, generally these receivers are controlled remotely via infrared controllers. Typically, all program receivers within a given control facility are of the same brand and model such that the settings for all of the program receivers can be changed using a single infrared controller. Controlling program receivers using infrared controllers allows one to avoid having to physically reach a program receiver unit which may be accessible only via stairs or by moving one or more racks. Also, using infra-red controllers allows the personnel in the control facility to change the operation of such receivers without having to hard-wire communication connections to the program receivers. To recognize the commands transmitted by the infrared controller, each of the program receivers to be controlled contains an infrared controlled device (ICD) mounted on its panel. Such an ICD typically includes an infrared detection module that converts the received infrared signal to an electrical signal and that provides the electrical signal to a circuit that controls the program receiver. Consequently, a central control facility that contains a number of program receivers will also have a number of ICDs.
Using an infrared controller with a cluster of ICDs located close to each other on racks causes at least two distinct problems. First, central control facilities typically have a separate equipment room that contains one or more racks with a number of program receivers, each having an ICD, whereas a broadcast operator controlling such ICDs generally works from a broadcast room separate from the equipment room. Because of this arrangement, every time a broadcast operator needs to make a change to the operation of a program receiver, the broadcast operator must walk away from the broadcast room to the equipment room. This is a very inefficient method of controlling the operation of program receivers.
Secondly, because a number of program receivers are typically placed in racks close together, if a broadcast operator attempts to change a setting of a particular program receiver using an infrared controller, the control signal transmitted from the infrared controller may be received by ICDs located on other program receivers in the rack close to the intended program receiver. This may cause the settings of such a nearby program receiver to be changed unintentionally. To avoid changing a setting of program receivers other than an intended program receiver, a broadcast operator must get very close to the ICD located on a program receiver so that an infrared beam emitted from the infrared controller is not received by any other ICD located on another program receiver. It is not always possible to get in close proximity to an ICD located on a program receiver, for example, when a program receiver is stacked high on a rack. Even if it is possible to get physically close to an ICD, the need to do so defeats the purpose of using ICDs. Alternatively the broadcast operator must narrow the infrared emission angle so that only one ICD receives the signal transmitted by the remote controller.